Name: Manpreet Singh Japra
Student Number: 995252471
Course Code: CCT205h5
Professor:Michael Jones and Gail Benick
Date of Submission: February 5th, 2009
The Increasing Amount Poverty and Child Slavery in Africa
Many say that the amount of poverty today in developing nations is declining, however, the amount of lives lost due to lack of infrastructure and poverty are still on the increase. Focusing on mostly the developing countries one can say that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. For a country like Africa most of this is true, being the second largest country on the planet with a population of 922 million people, thousands of innocent souls lose their life each day due to poverty(Wikipedia, 2009).There are great amounts of child slaves sold in Africa each year to the upper/ruling class. A large amount of desertification has been a big issue on the rural lands in this nation. Finally, political instability and wars in many places around Africa is a reason for deficiency as well. In this country the rich are the only ones that prosper living a very westernized life style, while the majority of the nation is dyeing due to deficiency and disease.
Child Slavery
Day and night parents and guardians sell their children to the upper class as slaves. Many times parents are told that their children will now have a good shelter with lots of foods, clothing and a better educational future(Child Slavery, 2007). However this is not true, parents are giving away their children as slaves and may never see them again. In most of Africa you will find children in agriculture, domestic work, industry and the sex trade.Children also promised they will have a better life and better future ahead of them, once they are taken away to the rural land and sweat shops they are forced to work as slaves in very bad conditions(Child Slavery, 2007). The children now have no rights and have no reason to fight, if one tries to fight back he/she is beaten and forced to work in very dangerous conditions again that result in life threatening injuries(Child Slavery, 2007). When one takes a look toward the developed world, one has so much freedom is able to buy clothing, shoes he/she likes. In most cases, in the developed world one is able to receive or have easy access to anything they could have imagined or dreamed of. Not even for one second, do we think of who made the clothing and where it came from. innocent children that have done nothing wrong who were promised a better future are the ones who make these top name brand clothing for us, getting paid very little amounts of money not enough to buy food let alone clothing for themselves. Child slaves in Africa are mostly used to harvest cocoa beans, manufacture cotton, rugs and silk to sell to world market. Poverty throughout Africa is great, on average a child is sold for about 90$US, in some cases not even paid and fed just given enough resources to be kept alive and work(Child Slavery, 2007). Some children who have managed to escape are living under street lights to get away from the beating and slavery of the sweat shops. A very rare amount of children are rescued by aid and non-profit organizations help build some future but there is never enough aid to support such a large amount of homeless lives. Many teen age girls who are slaves are even forced to become prostitutes as well, just killing themselves for money to help feed their children and families in most cases however teen age girls are just beaten and raped not receiving any sort of cash in return, this has also impacted on the increase amounts HIV/Aids among individuals (Stillwaggon, 2001).
Working Conditions
The poor work day and night to try and feed as much of their family as they can in this region, but there is never enough. Dry and deserted land covers a great deal of land, the farmershave destroyed the land to grow crops using up all the soil nutrients, most of the land has now become into a desert which is no good for reproducing crops and growing goods (Stillwaggon, 2001).Once the land is over used and not taken care of properly it becomes into a dessert, the poor farmers do not have enough money to give the land the proper nutrients it needs to let fresh crops grow. They keep replanting crops until the land is dead and completely dry.Lack of fresh water is another issue; individuals in this developing country don’t have access to much water at all let alone clean water. Land degradation, a consequence of extensive agriculture, deforestation and overgrazing, has reached alarming levels and further threatens livelihoods, as the poorest people live in isolated zones,(Extreme Poverty in Africa , 2009) the amount of malnutrition into southern parts of Africa is so great, it is very hard for children to even survive in these conditions.Most of the food is produced from manual labour for each family but when large areas are dislocated due to great amounts of war and desertification the land is destroyed(Extreme Poverty in Africa , 2009). The adults die from HIV/AIDs and the fields cannot be worked upon therefore there is no food to serve among families, Three fourths of poor people in western and middle Africa live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods(Extreme Poverty in Africa , 2009). Many times in the past, food has been delivered for the poor parts of Africa from the developed world. However, the food does not get to the poor; the rich are the ones that take most of it due to an instable government and politicians. The resource and food given from the developed world at very little cost is often sold to the poor, the poor do not have any money to even pay for it a lot of the time so they still end up starving.(Jenny, 2003). We are going through the 21st century; environmental problems are affecting individuals throughout the world.Climate change, lose of the ozone layer, pollution and continuous amounts of deforestation(Extreme Poverty in Africa , 2009). In Africa it gets even worst as hazardous waste and chemical waste combining together with the normal problems for these innocent souls such as aids, malnutrition, environmental degradation have a greater risk on the lives of children along with adults. For children doing great amounts of slavery/labour for extensive amounts of hours even getting beat at times, it is more hazardous not receiving enough food but inhaling all sorts of bad air pollution while working in the rural desserts.
Effects upon Children
The governments in this region is not helping the poor much either, in fact making it worst. War around many places in Africa are destroying the land and huts of many African families many are forced to leave with their homes destroyed and losing their only supplies to a small amount of food. Political parties start wars spending lots of their money to be able to fund, knowing that the country is already in poverty this is not the best idea, the more wars there are between government the lower amount of resources and social funding programs there are for the poor.(War, 2007) During times of war in these developing countries children’s are the ones that are affected the most, they are mentally hurtwar leaves them scarred for life in many cases, by viewing very violent acts many times even watching the death of their own parents or guardiansas well seeing their mothers and sisters getting rapped in front of their eyes. Children may be recruited or abducted and forced to fight, orphans, refugees, and children are the biggest risk of being recruited by armed groups, an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 18 serve in government and opposition forces (War, 2007). The lives of innocent children are getting destroyed each day in Africa, there have been relief camps put up around the continent to try and reduce the impact but it is just not enough with such a growing population.
Over all, there have been great amounts of resources/food supplied from the developed nations and the U.N to help reduce some of the impact of poverty for this country. However, having the second largest population in the world many times there is not enough to be spread around to everyone. Thousands of individuals are still living under street lights dyeing day and night because they have not eaten; the spread of HIV/Aids has really hurt the economy in poor parts of the country. The amounts of slavery has to be decreased in this country but there is not much of an effort that has been put forth to do this, many times popular name brand companies such as Nike move there factories from developed countries to places like Africa because of cheap labour costs. The amounts of efforts to help this country have been increasing, but to see a greater change more and more of the developed world has to put an impact work along with the government set up more relief camps throughout poorer parts of Africa where there is not enough. It is not possible to save the lives of everyone living through poverty but with greater effort made by the governments and citizens of the developed nations it will help lighten the effect upon the poverty of Africa.
Pictures and videos of africas poverty Poverty and Children African Poverty Aids in Africa Individuals Interview awaiting Tomorow
Manpreet Singh Japra's Page :)
Individual research assignment 1 CCT 205H5
Name: Manpreet Singh Japra
Student Number: 995252471
Course Code: CCT205h5
Professor: Michael Jones and Gail Benick
Date of Submission: February 5th, 2009
The Increasing Amount Poverty and Child Slavery in Africa
Many say that the amount of poverty today in developing nations is declining, however, the amount of lives lost due to lack of infrastructure and poverty are still on the increase. Focusing on mostly the developing countries one can say that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. For a country like Africa most of this is true, being the second largest country on the planet with a population of 922 million people, thousands of innocent souls lose their life each day due to poverty (Wikipedia, 2009).There are great amounts of child slaves sold in Africa each year to the upper/ruling class. A large amount of desertification has been a big issue on the rural lands in this nation. Finally, political instability and wars in many places around Africa is a reason for deficiency as well. In this country the rich are the only ones that prosper living a very westernized life style, while the majority of the nation is dyeing due to deficiency and disease.
Child Slavery
Day and night parents and guardians sell their children to the upper class as slaves. Many times parents are told that their children will now have a good shelter with lots of foods, clothing and a better educational future(Child Slavery, 2007). However this is not true, parents are giving away their children as slaves and may never see them again. In most of Africa you will find children in agriculture, domestic work, industry and the sex trade. Children also promised they will have a better life and better future ahead of them, once they are taken away to the rural land and sweat shops they are forced to work as slaves in very bad conditions(Child Slavery, 2007). The children now have no rights and have no reason to fight, if one tries to fight back he/she is beaten and forced to work in very dangerous conditions again that result in life threatening injuries(Child Slavery, 2007). When one takes a look toward the developed world, one has so much freedom is able to buy clothing, shoes he/she likes. In most cases, in the developed world one is able to receive or have easy access to anything they could have imagined or dreamed of. Not even for one second, do we think of who made the clothing and where it came from. innocent children that have done nothing wrong who were promised a better future are the ones who make these top name brand clothing for us, getting paid very little amounts of money not enough to buy food let alone clothing for themselves. Child slaves in Africa are mostly used to harvest cocoa beans, manufacture cotton, rugs and silk to sell to world market. Poverty throughout Africa is great, on average a child is sold for about 90$US, in some cases not even paid and fed just given enough resources to be kept alive and work(Child Slavery, 2007). Some children who have managed to escape are living under street lights to get away from the beating and slavery of the sweat shops. A very rare amount of children are rescued by aid and non-profit organizations help build some future but there is never enough aid to support such a large amount of homeless lives. Many teen age girls who are slaves are even forced to become prostitutes as well, just killing themselves for money to help feed their children and families in most cases however teen age girls are just beaten and raped not receiving any sort of cash in return, this has also impacted on the increase amounts HIV/Aids among individuals (Stillwaggon, 2001).
Working Conditions
The poor work day and night to try and feed as much of their family as they can in this region, but there is never enough. Dry and deserted land covers a great deal of land, the farmers have destroyed the land to grow crops using up all the soil nutrients, most of the land has now become into a desert which is no good for reproducing crops and growing goods (Stillwaggon, 2001). Once the land is over used and not taken care of properly it becomes into a dessert, the poor farmers do not have enough money to give the land the proper nutrients it needs to let fresh crops grow. They keep replanting crops until the land is dead and completely dry. Lack of fresh water is another issue; individuals in this developing country don’t have access to much water at all let alone clean water. Land degradation, a consequence of extensive agriculture, deforestation and overgrazing, has reached alarming levels and further threatens livelihoods, as the poorest people live in isolated zones,(Extreme Poverty in Africa , 2009) the amount of malnutrition into southern parts of Africa is so great, it is very hard for children to even survive in these conditions. Most of the food is produced from manual labour for each family but when large areas are dislocated due to great amounts of war and desertification the land is destroyed(Extreme Poverty in Africa , 2009). The adults die from HIV/AIDs and the fields cannot be worked upon therefore there is no food to serve among families, Three fourths of poor people in western and middle Africa live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods(Extreme Poverty in Africa , 2009). Many times in the past, food has been delivered for the poor parts of Africa from the developed world. However, the food does not get to the poor; the rich are the ones that take most of it due to an instable government and politicians. The resource and food given from the developed world at very little cost is often sold to the poor, the poor do not have any money to even pay for it a lot of the time so they still end up starving. (Jenny, 2003). We are going through the 21st century; environmental problems are affecting individuals throughout the world. Climate change, lose of the ozone layer, pollution and continuous amounts of deforestation(Extreme Poverty in Africa , 2009). In Africa it gets even worst as hazardous waste and chemical waste combining together with the normal problems for these innocent souls such as aids, malnutrition, environmental degradation have a greater risk on the lives of children along with adults. For children doing great amounts of slavery/labour for extensive amounts of hours even getting beat at times, it is more hazardous not receiving enough food but inhaling all sorts of bad air pollution while working in the rural desserts.
Effects upon Children
The governments in this region is not helping the poor much either, in fact making it worst. War around many places in Africa are destroying the land and huts of many African families many are forced to leave with their homes destroyed and losing their only supplies to a small amount of food. Political parties start wars spending lots of their money to be able to fund, knowing that the country is already in poverty this is not the best idea, the more wars there are between government the lower amount of resources and social funding programs there are for the poor. (War, 2007) During times of war in these developing countries children’s are the ones that are affected the most, they are mentally hurt war leaves them scarred for life in many cases, by viewing very violent acts many times even watching the death of their own parents or guardians as well seeing their mothers and sisters getting rapped in front of their eyes. Children may be recruited or abducted and forced to fight, orphans, refugees, and children are the biggest risk of being recruited by armed groups, an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 18 serve in government and opposition forces (War, 2007). The lives of innocent children are getting destroyed each day in Africa, there have been relief camps put up around the continent to try and reduce the impact but it is just not enough with such a growing population.
Over all, there have been great amounts of resources/food supplied from the developed nations and the U.N to help reduce some of the impact of poverty for this country. However, having the second largest population in the world many times there is not enough to be spread around to everyone. Thousands of individuals are still living under street lights dyeing day and night because they have not eaten; the spread of HIV/Aids has really hurt the economy in poor parts of the country. The amounts of slavery has to be decreased in this country but there is not much of an effort that has been put forth to do this, many times popular name brand companies such as Nike move there factories from developed countries to places like Africa because of cheap labour costs. The amounts of efforts to help this country have been increasing, but to see a greater change more and more of the developed world has to put an impact work along with the government set up more relief camps throughout poorer parts of Africa where there is not enough. It is not possible to save the lives of everyone living through poverty but with greater effort made by the governments and citizens of the developed nations it will help lighten the effect upon the poverty of Africa.
Pictures and videos of africas poverty
Poverty and Children
African Poverty
Aids in Africa
Individuals Interview awaiting Tomorow
Bibliography
Child Slavery. (2007). Retrieved from Stop Child poverty : http://www.stopchildpoverty.org/learn/bigpicture/slavery/
Extreme Poverty in Africa . (2009). Retrieved from Cozay through the eyes : http://cozay.com/
Jenny, C. (2003). FOOD SECURITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. Retrieved from Published in African Security Review Vol 12 No 1,: http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/ASR/12No1/FClover.html
Stillwaggon, E. (2001, May 3). AIDS and Poverty in Africa . Retrieved from The Nation Health, Science & Environment : http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010521/stillwaggon
War. (2007). Retrieved from Stop Child Poverty: http://www.stopchildpoverty.org/learn/bigpicture/war/
Wikipedia. (2009). Retrieved from Africa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa
http://jwcole.org/images/Local_Villagers.jpg (credit for the picture)